Elesh shouldn’t be known as my husband: Rakhi Sawant

Mumbai, They got engaged amid much fanfare on national television but item girl Rakhi Sawant is worried about her Toronto-based fiance Elesh Parujanwala.

She is worried about him accepting her sexy image, his financial independence and, above all, she doesn’t want him to be just known as “Rakhi Sawant’s husband”.

“Will Elesh be able to support me financially? I don’t want him to be known as Rakhi Sawant’s husband. I need time.

“I agree Elesh is educated and he comes from a wealthy family. But all of it belongs to his father. He has nothing of his own in Mumbai, not even a home. He needs time to settle down,” Rakhi, who selected Elesh through NDTV Imagine’s reality show “Rakhi Ka Swayamvar”, said.

She is also concerned about Elesh being comfortable with her sexy image.

“People are spreading dirty rumours about me. On the Internet they’ve morphed my face on naked bodies. Would Elesh be able to tolerate it?” asked Rakhi.

She is also disgusted by singer Mika’s attempts to gain mileage out of her name.

“I’m really tired of people using my name. I don’t want to give such people importance. I’ve learnt the hard way how to be dignified. Jesus has taught me to be calm. My good days are just beginning.”

Rakhi says she’ll marry Elesh only when he becomes economically self-sufficient.

“I don’t want him to be another Abhishek Awasthi (her ex-boyfriend) in my life. Yes, we’re engaged. I like him a lot. But how can I hand over my life to someone who isn’t earning a proper living?

“That’s why we’re going on another reality show to see whether we’re really as compatible as we seemed on ‘Rakhi Ka Swayamvar’. I didn’t get enough time with him on that show. You and I saw his best face. Now I want to see the real Elesh.”

Her new show “Pati Patni Aur Woh”, which is likely to be aired next month on NDTV Imagine, is about parenting.

“I want to marry a man who can support me. In India, wives are supposed to be looked after by husbands, not vice versa. I don’t want him to come and stay in my house. I want to live in his house. I will wait for him to afford a house.

“I know Elesh is a decent guy. But is that enough? He has to be financially independent. He needed a place and a face to latch on to; that’s why he came on the show. Abhishek was so decent. But he was known as Rakhi’s boyfriend.”

Rakhi’s new show is about parenting, but kids give her a headache.

“I’ve a migraine problem. When a child cries, I get a severe headache. I don’t know how I’ll manage for a month with a stranger’s child.

“On top of that I’ve to cook on the show. I can’t cook to save my life. I don’t know how I’ll manage. I can’t even use make-up. Can you imagine Rakhi Sawant without makeup?” she said.

Asked how she’ll cope when she has her own kids, Rakhi replied: “Apna bachcha to har koi paal leta hai…jaanwar bhi. I don’t know how I’ll cope. I think I’m going to lose my cool completely. So far people have only seen the good Rakhi Sawant. Now they’ll see the real me.”

Speaking about ex-boyfriend Abhishek, she said: “I still consider him my good friend. I hope and pray he finds a good girl. If ever in life he needs me, I’ll always be there.

“If he needs me to be a dance partner in a reality show I’ll gladly do the needful. He has supported me a lot. I’ll always be thankful to him for getting my mother out of my life. That’s one good deed he did. If Abhishek hadn’t been there, I’d have not had the courage to break away from my family. I’d have been wallowing in mud.”

Shahid fears over-exposure with back-to-back releases!

‘Kaminey’ is a good success, critically as well as commercially, and now all of a sudden Shahid Kapoor finds himself in the super big league. While the Khans (Shah Rukh, Aamir, Salman) have been dominating from the top along with Akshay Kumar and Hrithik Roshan, the success of ‘Kaminey’ means that both Shahid Kapoor, as well as Saif Ali Khan are both making the Top-5 actors uncomfortable.

As this Vishal Bharadwaj film continues to fetch audiences and reactions for itself in it’s second week, Shahid Kapoor looks forward to the release of two more films before the end of year. These are ‘Dil Bole Hadippa’ opposite Rani Mukherjee and ‘Chance Pe Dance’ opposite Genelia D’Souza. Isn’t it too much happening all on one go?

“Yes, it is actually quite a lot”, agrees Shahid who is currently also shooting for Yash Raj Films’ next which has Parmeet Sethi as the director and Anushka Sharma as his co-star, “Usually I have had one release a year. Last year I had just ‘Kismat Konnection’. However, 2009 has been a busy year.”

He understands though that over exposure is a twin edged sword.

“Yeah, I know that three releases in succession could work out both ways”, he smiles, “‘Kaminey’ has started the year well for me and I would want the momentum to work to continue. I am happy thought that thankfully each of my three films, whether ‘Kaminey’, ‘Dil Bole Hadippa’ or ‘Chance Pe Dance’, are extremely different movies. If at all they were similar films then it would have been a disaster for me.”

He is also enjoying working with variety of co-stars in each of his films. While ‘Kaminey’ had one of the top female actors of today, Priyanka Chopra, ‘Dil Bole Hadippa’ sees Rani Mukherjee making a comeback of sorts. And then in ‘Chance Pe Dance’, he has upcoming Genelia D’Souza who incidentally replaced Jiah Khan in this Ken Ghosh directed film.

“Due to fresh casting, it only makes these projects further interesting”, says Shahid, “I have not worked with any of my female co-stars before, so for me too it was a new experience shooting with them for these films.”

He laments the fact that producers’ strike did play a major role in a sudden rush of releases.

“Everyone in the industry faced the heat due to this. ‘Kaminey’ was supposed to arrive at least a couple of months back, but due to the strike, we had to move ahead. At the end of the day I am an actor, and the producers and distributors decide which film of mine releases in what order and frequency. ‘Dil Bole Hadippa’ and then ‘Chance Pe Dance’ are now coming in succession though from year 2010 on, I guess it would be a sane state for me with at maximum a couple of releases a year”, concludes Shahid hopefully.

Comparing me to Rahman not fair: Sohail Sen

After teaming up with music maestro A.R. Rahman in hits like “Lagaan” and “Jodhaa Akbar”, director Ashutosh Gowariker has roped in budding composer Sohail Sen for “What’s Your Raashee?” and the young musician says drawing comparisons between him and the Oscar-winning genius wouldn’t be fair.

“I never had in mind that I will be compared to Rahman. That shouldn’t happen at all. He has been in the industry for so long and I’m just a beginner; so any comparison with him would not be fair,” Sen, who has composed 13 tracks for “What’s Your Raashee?”, said.

“I’m a great fan of Rahman. I have been listening to his music over the years and he is just like an idol for me. He is an encyclopaedia of music,” Sen added.

The 25-year-old has got music in legacy from his father Sameer Sen, a well-known name in the field of music in Hindi films, but says creating songs for the Priyanka Chopra, Hurman Baweja-starrer was not a cakewalk.

“Creating 13 different songs, each for one particular zodiac sign, was a difficult task. We had to maintain distinctiveness. Initially I was nervous. But when Ashutosh-ji and Javed (Akhtar)-saab briefed me and we started working on them, it became better.

“But we did our homework too before starting on the work. We worked on the album for more than one and a half years,” said Sen, who had earlier composed music for the 2008 movie “Sirf”.

Asked which was the most difficult number to create, he said: “‘Chehra jo dekhe hain’ was the most difficult song. We had themes for every song, but in this song we had to collaborate and merge every theme… it was a big task, but we managed,” said Sen, who has also lent his voice to a few songs in the album.

“What’s Your Raashee?” is about a young man who is told to find his dreamgirl within 10 days to save his family from utter ruin. He meets two girls from each sun sign every day so that he will get 12 chances to fall in love, three days to make his final decision and tie the knot on the 10th day.

Priyanka plays 12 different characters, depicting the 12 zodiac signs in the movie set to release Sep 25.

Most films have four-five songs these days — won’t it be a minus point to have 13 songs in the film?

“I don’t think that having 13 songs in one album in a time like today will be a minus point because every song is essential for the film. The songs and the script go hand-in-hand.

“I don’t think the audience will have a problem. As far as I am concerned, it was a plus point for me since I got a chance to showcase my talent and create music in so many different genres in one album itself,” said Sen.

So do you consider this a landmark film for yourself?

“Absolutely. It was a dream to work with a filmmaker like Ashutosh Gowariker,” Sen said.

From Chandigarh to China for Saumya

Charismatic Saumya Tandon is set to charm the populace across The Great Wall Of China. Recently she was in China, shooting for an Ad commercial. And this makes her the first Indian actress to have done a Chinese ad film.

This Indian beauty is endorsing a skin care moisturizing cream, out there, in the most populated country in the world. She has done an amazing spy act to flaunt her glowing skin in the commercial. This Commercial will be broadcast nationally, on all the Chinese channels.

Apart from this, she is also busy shooting for a Punjabi film. Though she is not keen in acting on television, she is looking forward to the dance reality show Dance India Dance’s second season.

As she has attained the real recognition through the reality show

Bollywood veterans set to weave magic with their film

Two of the most popular Bollywood actors of their time, Amol Palekar and Sharmila Tagore, are all set to fascinate hearts with their forthcoming film.

‘Samaantar’ a Marathi film, will see veterans Amol Palekar and Sharmila Tagore teaming up after a gap of 30 years in an intense story, which is a tale of two parallel lives crossing each other in the twilight of life.

Palekar believes that the film will transcend the language barrier and will go down well with the audience.

“Any film, any good film has it’s roots in the language, in the soil, in the culture, everything. And yet, it transcends, it goes beyond. And that’s what I think, I have my full faith about ‘Samaantar’ also,” said Palekar.

The film revolves around businessman Keshav Vaze, played by Amol Palekar who decides to find serenity from his extremely busy schedule on his 60th birthday.

A casual glimpse of Shama, his love interest, played by Tagore jolts him, and how the relationship progresses when they find each other after a gap of 30 years, forms the storyline.

Describing her character as challenging, Sharmila Tagore said: “It’s a very quiet, reclusive character and the character grows on you. I mean I will make a mess of it if I try and tell you about the character, I think I can act it better than I can say it. So, you have to see it.”

“Well, it’s very quiet, very confident and a very introspective person, not very outwardly demonstrative person. It had its challenges. Its mostly in the expressions and the eyes,” she added.

‘Samaantar’ is set to release on September 4.

FIR filed against ‘Kaminey’ director, producer

A first information report (FIR) was filed Monday against the director and producer of “Kaminey” for allegedly denigrating Lord Jagannath in the film.

The FIR has been filed by Jagannath Sena Sangathan at a police station in Puri alleging that Lord Jagannath has been shown in poor light in the just released movie, which is directed by Vishal Bharadwaj and produced by UTV Motion Pictures Ltd.

“Jagannath has been shown in poor light in the movie. In a scene, it has been written ‘Apna Hath Jagannath’ in the toilet with a semi-clad model under the writing. It has hurt the sentiments of Jagannath devotees,” said Somnath Khuntia, a member of the Sangathan.

The Sangathan also protested in Puri and submitted a memorandum before the state governor through the district collector.

“An FIR has been filed in the police station saying that some scenes in ‘Kaminey’ have hurt religious sentiments. We have lodged a case and investigating the matter,” said Sudhakar Sahu, incharge of Puri town police station.

The objectionable portion has reportedly been edited out from the prints released in the state.

Rajiv Menon’s film isn’t an exact remake of ‘Abhimaan’: Abhishek Bachchan

Abhishek Bachchan admits he is going to team up with wife Aishwarya Rai for Rajiv Menon’s next project - a remake of the 1973 evergreen hit film “Abhimaan”. But Abhishek clarifies that it wouldn’t be an exact copy of the film his parents starred in.

“Yes, Rajiv is a very dear friend. He directed Aishwarya earlier in the Tamil film ‘Kandukondain Kandukondain’. He approached us with a subject that isn’t exactly a remake of ‘Abhimaan’. But it’s very similar. We’ve both approved and attached ourselves to the subject,” Abhishek told IANS.

This will be his seventh film with Aishwarya after “Dhaai Akshar Prem Ke” (2000), “Kuch Naa Kaho” (2003), “Umrao Jaan” (2006), “Guru” (2007), “Dhoom 2″ (2007) and “Sarkar Raj” (2008) and Mani Ratnam’s next, “Ravan”.

For the moment, Abhishek’s kitty is full.

“I’m also doing Rohan Sippy’s next. We’ll try to do something as different as ‘Bluffmaster’. I’m also doing Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra’s ‘Paanch Kaurav’ with pa (Amitabh Bachchan),” he said.

He is also going to team up with Abhinay Deo who has just finished Imran Khan-starrer “Delhi Belly”.

“Yes, I’m doing Abhinay Deo’s film. I’ve always been impressed by his ads. And when I heard he was making feature films, I was keen to work with him,” said Abhishek.

In the last two years, he has worked with directors as diverse as Ram Gopal Varma, Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra and Mani Ratnam and says it has been a time of great learning experiences.

“Oh it was huge. My first release in 2008 was ‘Sarkar Raj’. I went on to ‘Drona’. I ended last year with ‘Dostana’. Then came ‘Delhi 6′. I had a wonderful time making all of them.

“I’m happy with the work I’ve done regardless of whether the film has been successful or not. The important thing is to enjoy the journey of making the film. Because that’s all you finally take home. I look back with fond memories,” he said.

Sohail Sen’s music impresses in ‘What’s Your Raashee?’

Film: “What’s Your Raashee?”; Music Director: Sohail Sen

 Lyricist: Javed Akhtar

 Singers: Aslesha Gowariker, Shaan, Bhavya Pandit, Sohail Sen, Marianne D. Cruz, Tarannum Malik, Rajab Ali Bharti, Bela Shende, Ashutosh Gowariker, Pamela Jain, Alka Yagnik, Udit Narayan and Madhushree

Ashutosh Gowariker’s films are synonymous with A.R. Rahman’s tunes, but for his “What’s Your Rashee?”, which has Priyanka Chopra and Hurman Baweja in lead roles, the director has got on board a new composer, Sohail Sen - who has done a commendable job.

From fast pacy numbers to romantic songs to Arabic and folk tunes - Sen, son of music composer Sameer Sen, has packed interesting compostions in the album.

The film has 13 songs, one each for the 12 zodiac signs and one is a mix of all. The young composer has roped in the director as well has his sister Aslesha to sing.

The album kickstarts with a pleasing and soft number “Jao na” crooned by Sen himself along with Tarannum Malik. It is quite intriguing and the part where the song suddenly gains momentum works well for it. It will surely appeal to the younger generation.

Up next is “Aaja lehrate” that has vocals by Shaan and Bhavya Pandit. It is quite fast-paced and has western influences with English lyrics thrown in here and there. But the peppy number doesn’t stand out in the album.

“Bikhri bikhri”, sung by Sohail Sen and Marianne D. Cruz, will have a tranquilizing effect on you. A soft, soothing and melodious number, it immediately strikes a chord with the listener.

Then we have “Mannunga mannunga”. Director Ashutosh Gowariker himself goes behind the mike along with Pamela Jain to sing the song. But the track is unappealing and unexciting.

“Sau janam”, a love ballet by Udit Narayan, Madhushree and Sen, is one of the best songs in the album. A mushy number, it has a strong musical backing and stays with you long after. A great composition.

Next in line is “Aa le chal”. Sung by Aslesha Gowariker, it is nothing extraordinary. An average number.

“Pyaari pyaari” is another feel-good song with some amount of sweetness in it. It is crooned by Alka Yagnik and Sen.

Then there is “Su che”. Soaked in Gujarati flavour, it is sung by Sen and Bela Shende and is a fact-paced track. It was meant to be a fun song but fails to make a mark.

The next number, “Salone kya”, is a song with an Arabic feel. It is sung by Sen and Tarannum Malik. Even though the music is captivating, the lyrics are a big put off and take away the zing from the song.

“Dhadkan dhadkan” has edgy music with a strong musical backing. Once again Sen and Tarannum team up for the song that has a haunting feel to it. The number does impress.

“Pal pal jisko dhoonde” has influences of jazz music. A soft and free flowing number, it is sung by Sen.

“Koi Jaane na” is an interesting number sprinkled with folk flavour. A poignant song, it is sung very well by Rajab Ali Bharti and Bela.

Finally, there is “Chehra jo dekhe hain” by Sen again that is the title track of the film. The song includes samples from the other 12 songs.

On the whole “What’s your Raashee?” is a decent album, even though long. The budding composer has done a good job.

Zeenat Aman ready to steal hearts again with Chura liya!

Remember Zeenat Aman’s super glam look in the song Chura liya from Yaadon Ki Barat? It was a look that she immortalized. So much so that it’s being relived now, and by none other than Zeenie herself! And hey, it’s not just the look but also the strumming of the guitar that is being revisited in the film Dunno Y…. Naa Jaane Kyon directed by Sanjay Sharma, which is her comeback project. Just that in that film she was being pursued and in this one she plays a glam mom. Well, the idea to give her a glam mum look was actor Kapil Sharma’s, who has also written the screenplay for the film. So, Kapil paid a lot of attention to her styling apart from stylist Rehan Shah and photographer Vicky Idnani. That’s not all, Zeenat had to embark on a stringent exercise regime to lose weight for the contemporary and glam role. And, the actress was only apprehensive about it because she has never played the role of a glam mum before.

It’s not just a glam role but Zeenat plays a woman of substance, as she plays the woman who supports her entire family single handedly after her husband in the film estranges her. The movie is also all set to bring back the glory of family drama genre that has been popularized by Hrishikesh Mukherjee and Basu Chaterjee. To be shot in Mumbai and Goa, the film will also star another yesteryear glam doll Helen, Rituparna Sengupta, Yuvraj, Hazel, Asha Sachdev and Maradona Rebello. This one is sure going to be family feast!

Vidya Balan vanishes in Cambridge!

Vidya Balan proved to be more adventurous than her sedate image and serene personality suggest.

Recently while shooting for Balki’s Amitabh-Abhishek starrer Paa in Cambridge, Vidya simply disappeared into thin air! The crew returned to Mumbai without her. Laughs Vidya, “It’s nothing so dramatic. Yes, I did stay back in Cambridge. I simply had to. I had no choice.”

Shooting for Balki’s Paa in Oxford and Cambridge proved to be too lovely an experience for the actress to leave behind. After the whole unit left, she decided to stay for an extra week.

Recounting the experience Vidya says, “I just couldn’t help it. Just being in Cambridge shooting was not enough. I felt a deep connect with the campus and the environment. I just wanted to walk around the campus with books in hand so I’d look like a student.”

Once the shooting was over, Vidya decided to stay over. “Luckily I’ve a friend in Cambridge. I stayed with her, and her husband. It was the most enriching experience of my life. Just the air and the feel of the place are so special.”

Vidya now intends to buy herself a quiet escape route. “I can’t afford a place in Cambridge. But I know of a place near Mumbai that offers the same climate and topography. But I am not revealing it.”

Copycat Rock-Star: Ajay Devgan copies U2’s Bono!

Ajay Devgan as a rock star, strumming away the heated strings on stage is a hard act to swallow.

Not for Vipul Shah, who has cast Devgan as a rock-star musician in London Dreams. The gritty sweaty ambience, the riveting guitar licks, the angst-filled vocals and the screaming hysterical fans…Devgan goes through the rock motions in the film with élan.

Says Vipul, “So far we’ve only seen him in a sedate or comic image, never as someone who can cross the frontiers and do something outrageous.”

Vipul hasn’t quite converted Devgan in to an outrageously punk rock star.

“No, not quite the reckless renegade. I’ve modeled Ajay’s rock act on Bono, the Irish lead singer from U2. Bono was never your quintessential rock star. He had a more sober and a less wild image. When Ajay gets on stage in London Dreams he replicates the curbed tempered-down rock-star’s image of U2. Yes, I modeled him on Bono.”

Interestingly Salman Khan who started calling himself a “rock star’ even before the term was coined has no particular image in London Dreams.

“He plays a more improvisational musician whereas Devgan plays a more professional rock musician,” informs Vipul.

Vipul has already shot all the on-stage performances except one. “I wanted to see how the other stage performances look before shooting the last one. I was afraid they’d all look the same. But they’ve all come out differently. And Ajay looks like a rock star in the truest sense of the word.”

Imran in love with Shenaz Treasurywala!

Everyone is so tightlipped about the cast of Aamir Khan Productions Delhi Belly that it becomes hard to say whether they’re making a film or designing the blueprint for the national defense.

We all know that the film’s leading man is Aamir’s nephew Imran Khan. Beyond that everyone is silent on the cast, including Imran himself.

When asked about the cast he chuckled, “Sorry I’m not at liberty to talk about the rest of the cast, besides myself.”

Ask him if it’s Lisa Ray who was to earlier play the female lead when Ranbir Kapoor was to play the lead.

“No it isn’t Lisa Ray. Beyond that you won’t get anything out of me,” Imran laughs.

The cloak of secrecy further deepened recently when veejay-turned-part-time-actress Shenaz Treasurywala was mysteriously quoted as saying, “…It’s a fantastic production. And my costar…there is not a single young lady in India who doesn’t believe he’s the most adorable thing around.”

The “fantastic production”, as it turns out, is none other than Delhi Belly. And the “the most adorable thing around” is Imran Khan.

Shenaz, who made her screen debut opposite Shahid Kapoor in Ken Ghosh’s Ishq Vishq, also did a walk-on part in Kunal Kohli’s Hum Tum.

Shabana, Nandita team up again for ‘Midnight’s Children’

After 11 years, Canada-based director Deepa Mehta is set to bring feisty actresses Shabana Azmi and Nandita Das together again for a screen adaptation of Salman Rushdie’s award winning 1981 novel “Midnight’s Children”.

The last time they came together in Mehta’s 1998 “Fire” they created a stir as a lesbian couple. “Shabana and Nandita were magical in ‘Fire’,” said Mehta who has also finalised Seema Biswas in the cast along with them.

“These are my three absolute favourites. Enchanting enduring actors whom I’ve had the privilege of working with earlier. And Seema was absolutely resplendent in ‘Water’,” Mehta told IANS.

Just how this cinematic history was mooted is a tale by itself that’s best left for Mehta to be recounted.

“It was the simplest thing in the world. I’m aware the largest studios of Hollywood were trying for years to convince Salman to part with the filming rights for ‘Midnight’s Children’ and he had refused them all. Salman and I have been friends for three years.

“On Nov 4, (2008) Salman and I were having lunch in New York when I casually said, ‘Wouldn’t it be lovely to make a film out of ‘Midnight’s Children?” And Salman replied, ‘Why don’t you do it?’ As simple as that. Salman has seen my ‘Water’ and loved it. So he feels I could do justice to his book,” she said.

Mehta will start working on the novel, an allegory about the blossoming of modern India, in 2010, right after she’s done with her other period epic “Komagata Maru” with Akshay Kumar.

“Midnight’s Children” will be produced by Mehta’s life partner David Hamilton.

Now the big question is, who plays the young Muslim protagonist Salim in “Midnight’s Children”?

‘Kaminey’ takes Indian cinema beyond Tarantino, says Shekhar Kapur

Internationally acclaimed Indian filmmaker Shekhar Kapur is quite impressed with Vishal Bharadwaj’s “Kaminey” and says the film “catapults Indian cinema in modernity beyond (Quentin) Tarantino”.

“The greatest thing about Vishal Bharadwaj’s ‘Kaminey’ is that you cannot work out why it is working. You cannot work out why you are laughing amidst the ugliness of violence in perhaps India’s first real dark comedy. And why in the final moments of the film with the brilliant background song by Vishal himself, you finally get the point of the film,” Kapur posted on his blog www.shekharkapur.com.

“With violence all around you, you sense innocence caught in the crossfire of unnecessary violence. And finally you come away with a great sense of the pointlessness of it all. It’s terrific… Vishal better think hard about how to surpass this one,” he added.

A thoughtful director himself, Kapur further praised the technical aspects of the film that has Shahid Kapoor in a double role.

“The cinematography (by Tassaduq Hussain) is great as are some of the performances, the script and the editing. It is ultimately a director’s brilliant vision of the world that is playing through,” he said.

The 63-year-old, however, didn’t seem to be too impressed with Bharadwaj’s idea of making the lead characters lisp and stammer in the film.

“Did Vishal have to use the idea of stuttering and stammering with the main character though? It was a little over done and the only thing that harked to a more traditional form of comedy in Indian films. The film could have done with a little less of that,” he wrote.

“Kaminey” is Bharadwaj’s first commercial hit. It earned about Rs.330 million in its first weekend at the box office.

I thought ‘Kaminey’ offer was a crank call: Amol Gupte

Amol Gupte has received praise for his performance as a Maharashtrian mafioso in Vishal Bharadwaj’s recently released dark thriller “Kaminey”, but when the writer-director was first approached for the role he thought someone was playing a prank on him.

“I thought it was a crank call. A man named Honey introduced himself as Vishal Bharadwaj’s casting director and offered me a very important role, in the same space and zone as Langda Tyagi in ‘Omkara’. I banged the phone down not believing a word of what he said,” Gupte, who scripted the much-acclaimed “Taare Zameen Par”, said.

But Honey showed up in Gupte’s office.

“He had my resume as an actor right from the time in 1981 when I did my first diploma film as an actor. Honey was aware of all my 108 films as an actor in student films, also Ketan Mehta’s ‘Holi’ and Dayal Nihalani’s ‘Gurudakshina’. They convinced me I was an actor. Finally, I had to meet Vishal. My wife Deepa and I knew Vishal and his wife Rekha from the time I was doing dubbing direction for Kamal Haasan’s ‘Chachi 420′. And I love his films,” he said.

“I could’ve made a career in acting in Mumbai. But I was wedded to the camera and the lens not as an actor but on much broader level. For 10 years, I shifted to painting and lived the life of a painter.”

Gupte says acting is an ongoing process.

“From the moment the promos (of ‘Kaminey’) started, I’ve been flooded with calls about the film and my look. Acting is an ongoing process. All day long we’re acting in one way or another. So I was never away from it. And in ‘Taare Zameen Par’ I lived every character from little Ishaan (Darsheel Safary) to the English and Hindi teachers - Mr. Sen and Mr. Tiwari,” he said.

Gupte is willing to take on more acting assignments. “If it helps me to fund my film projects. But it has to touch me in some way. Otherwise I’d have become a permanent actor after ‘Holi’ 22 years ago.”

He is also readying to direct a film called “Sapno Ko Ginte Ginte”. And like the much-acclaimed “Taare Zameen Par”, “Sapno…” is also about the life and psychology of children.

“It took me so long to start another film after ‘Taare Zameen Par’ because I needed to tighten my script. The kids are the star of ‘Sapno Ko Ginte Ginte’. But I do need a big brand to make the audience to come watch my film. However the star shouldn’t feel he is doing the film and the children a favour by being part of the film,” said Gupte.

I thought ‘Kaminey’ offer was a crank call: Amol Gupte

Amol Gupte has received praise for his performance as a Maharashtrian mafioso in Vishal Bharadwaj’s recently released dark thriller “Kaminey”, but when the writer-director was first approached for the role he thought someone was playing a prank on him.

“I thought it was a crank call. A man named Honey introduced himself as Vishal Bharadwaj’s casting director and offered me a very important role, in the same space and zone as Langda Tyagi in ‘Omkara’. I banged the phone down not believing a word of what he said,” Gupte, who scripted the much-acclaimed “Taare Zameen Par”, told IANS.

But Honey showed up in Gupte’s office.

“He had my resume as an actor right from the time in 1981 when I did my first diploma film as an actor. Honey was aware of all my 108 films as an actor in student films, also Ketan Mehta’s ‘Holi’ and Dayal Nihalani’s ‘Gurudakshina’. They convinced me I was an actor. Finally, I had to meet Vishal. My wife Deepa and I knew Vishal and his wife Rekha from the time I was doing dubbing direction for Kamal Haasan’s ‘Chachi 420′. And I love his films,” he said.

“I could’ve made a career in acting in Mumbai. But I was wedded to the camera and the lens not as an actor but on much broader level. For 10 years, I shifted to painting and lived the life of a painter.”

Gupte says acting is an ongoing process.

“From the moment the promos (of ‘Kaminey’) started, I’ve been flooded with calls about the film and my look. Acting is an ongoing process. All day long we’re acting in one way or another. So I was never away from it. And in ‘Taare Zameen Par’ I lived every character from little Ishaan (Darsheel Safary) to the English and Hindi teachers - Mr. Sen and Mr. Tiwari,” he said.

Gupte is willing to take on more acting assignments. “If it helps me to fund my film projects. But it has to touch me in some way. Otherwise I’d have become a permanent actor after ‘Holi’ 22 years ago.”

He is also readying to direct a film called “Sapno Ko Ginte Ginte”. And like the much-acclaimed “Taare Zameen Par”, “Sapno…” is also about the life and psychology of children.

“It took me so long to start another film after ‘Taare Zameen Par’ because I needed to tighten my script. The kids are the star of ‘Sapno Ko Ginte Ginte’. But I do need a big brand to make the audience to come watch my film. However the star shouldn’t feel he is doing the film and the children a favour by being part of the film,” said Gupte.

I couldn’t relate to my character in ‘Sikandar’: Ayesha Kapoor

She earned rave reviews for her performance as a blind and deaf girl in the critically acclaimed “Black”, but 14-year-old Ayesha Kapoor says she wasn’t able to relate to her character of a conservative Kashmiri girl in her latest film “Sikandar”.

“It was hard for me to relate to my character in the film since I’m a completely different in real life. Nasreen, my character, is conservative. That’s the opposite of me,” Ayesha told IANS.

“From a very young age, I have lived in an international community. My friends are from all over the world. I get to meet people from different cultures. That’s made me quite modern. Also, I am half German, so my thinking is very different,” she added.

Directed by Piyush Jha, “Sikandar” released Friday and has got mixed reviews. In the film, Ayesha plays protagonist Parzaan Dastur’s best friend Nasreen.

Ayesha says another problem was that she isn’t fluent in Hindi and had to really work on her dialogues. She had to do quite a lot of preparations to make her character look real in the movie, which also stars R. Madhavan and Sanjay Suri.

“We did quite a few preparations for me to get the hang of my character. I attended a workshop in Delhi. That time for me it was mainly working on the lines and also understanding how a Kashmiri school girl would walk and talk and how she wears her dupatta…all those nitty-gritties,” the young actress explained.

“Also to understand things better, I went to Kashmir a week earlier than the shooting schedule. I visited the schools there and interacted with school girls to understand things,” she added.

The film revolves around teenage boy Sikandar Raza (Parzan), who dreams of playing football at the national level, but his life changes when he finds a gun lying on the road. Despite warnings from Nasreen, he picks up the gun and his life is never the same again - he enters into the darker side of his nature.

So, would Ayesha like to pursue acting as a full-fledged career later in life?

“Acting is a passion for me. I love to be in front of the camera. I really hope in the future I can continue acting and get good opportunities,” Ayesha said.

Asked how she got interested in acting at such a young age, Ayesha said it came to her naturally.

“Acting has come naturally to me. I never did any acting classes. I never even tried to get into movies. Everything just happened. I feel…something when it’s meant to be, it will just happen, that’s how I believe films and me happened,” she said.

“It’s so strange that I literally lived in the middle of the jungle, in the south of India. Nobody had heard of me before in any way. Then Sanjay Leela Bhansali just came across a picture of mine and somehow he liked me and then called me up. I went to Mumbai and had a small audition. I was on (for ‘Black) and it changed so much for me. It was destiny,” Ayesha added.

Katrina floored by young fan

Bollywood beauty Katrina Kaif got a little more attention than she bargained for while interacting with fans at the Indian Independence Day parade in Houston. A boy actually knocked her down while trying to reach out to her.

“Yes I was knocked off my feet. And I did fall. And considering it was a 12-year-old boy half my size, it did kinda take me by surprise. But I didn’t mind at all. I guess it showed the force of his love for me,” said Katrina.

The actress is quite sporting and doesn’t mind fans getting close…as long as they don’t get personal.

“When you go for these fan interactions you can’t be finicky about people getting too close and not giving you space, etc etc. They do want to shake hands, get themselves clicked, sign papers. I love to mingle with them. And I did so to my heart’s content in Houston and Chicago. So what if some of them got over-excited? Shows how much they love me,” she said.

Katrina, who has given hits like “Singh is Kinng” and “New York”, loves the interactive spirit at NRI gatherings and thinks a direct one-on-one with fans is a truly exhilarating experience.

“There were kids and there were old people. They all reached out,” the star said.

Shah Rukh Mil Gaya!

It is common knowledge that Shah Rukh Khan will make a guest appearance in Dulha Mil Gaya, produced by close friend, Vivek Vaswani. But did you know his guest appearance lasts for an hour, in the two and half hour film? The buzz is that Shah Rukh is not happy with his role getting extended so much so, that he didn’t want to complete shooting for the film.

However, producer Vivek Vaswani has rubbished these reports and informed that they have not added or subtracted any scenes with Shah Rukh. Whatever was narrated to him has been filmed. He has 17 scenes and three songs. One of the music videos is yet to be shot with the entire cast. Since Shah Rukh is doing Dulha Mil Gaya as a favor for a friend, he is being credited as a guest appearance. Vaswani also thinks that getting credited, as a guest appearance does not depend on the length of the role. He gives the example of Sunny Deol in Damini. Similarly, he feels that while Shah Rukh is not part of the main cast, his role is equally powerful as that of the others. SRK will be seen promoting the film along with the other cast members.

Saat saal baad- Big B and Sanju baba at loggerheads again

In the current decade, Amitabh Bachchan and Sanjay Dutt have worked together in half a dozen odd films. ‘Shoot Out At Lokhandwala’, ‘Eklavya- The Royal Guard’, ‘Deewar- Let’s Bring Our Heroes Home’, ‘Viruddh’ and ‘Hum Kisi Se Kum Nahin’ are some of these films. However, the one which clearly stands out amongst the crowd is ‘Kaante’ (2002) which when released seven years back had given a different dimension to their on screen rivalry.

Now it’s time for the two veteran actors, though separated by a generation, to be at loggerheads again in Eros International’s ‘Aladin’.

Agrees Sujoy, “Yes, Mr. Bachchan and Dutt saab are fighting it out again in ‘Aladin’. It’s a different energy altogether when actors like these are pitted against each other. This time around it is ‘Genius- The Genie’ (Big B) vs ‘Ringmaster’ (Sanjay Dutt).”

If one goes down the memory lane, ‘Kaante’ had been ever so memorable for Sanjay Dutt’s cold dialogue- ‘Major, Tu Sirf Bhaukega Ya Kaatega Bhi (Major, are you only going to bark or even bite)?’ that had created a frenzy of sorts. No one had expected any actor, even though he was someone of the stature of Sanjay Dutt, to address a living legend like Amitabh Bachchan in such manner, even though it was for screen. Moreover, Sanju baba has been known for respecting Big B since decades due to which this dialogue was even more shocking and had made headlines.

Do we expect such headline grabbing antics in ‘Aladin’ as well?

“Well, when two actors like these are pitted opposite each other, there are bound to be fireworks. Now whether these would be through power packed dialogues or some intense scenes or symbolic gestures is something that would be for audiences to see once the film arrives this summer. However, I can assure that those looking for a man to man combat, whether physically or verbally, won’t be disappointed”, smiles Sujoy who is said to have created enough dramatic sequences featuring the two.

“I couldn’t have wasted this opportunity for anything”, he smiles, “Both of them have appeared in quite a few movies together, but their characters have more often than not shared cordial relationship with each other. In ‘Aladin’ that’s hardly the case. They are on different sides of the fence and have fought it out in the middle. Watch out for them!”